Church of The Gardens and Property Owner
Church of The Gardens and Property Owner
Church of The Gardens and Property Owner
Re: Trustee Sale (095476-WA) of the following described real property scheduled to
occur on March 24, 2023:
Lot 14, Rivendell Estates as per the map thereof recorded in Volume 14
of plat, page 80, records of Whatcom County, Washington. APN#400630-
168005-0000.
(hereafter referred to as the Real Property)
Via priority U.S. Mail to above address and email at: [email protected]
Dear Trustee:
I represent Church of the Gardens (Church) and Alvin White and Kimberly
Rojo (Property Owners) with regard to the property located 7712 Silver Lake Road,
Maple Falls, Washington 98266, for which you have scheduled a trustee sale to occur
on March 24, 2023. I have attached hereto as Exhibit 1 a copy of the Church’s mission
statement. Property Owners are the legal owners of the Real Property reference
above.
On behalf of Church of the Gardens and Property Owners, I request that you
delay or cancel the trustee sale of the real property because my clients have elected
to have the judicial inquiries implicated by this matter resolved by the superior court.
See Larson v. Snohomish Cty., 20 Wn. App. 2d 243, 284-85, 499 P.3d 957, 981 (2021).
The Court of Appeals held in Larson that the DTA does not violate Wash. Const. Art
IV, sec. 6 because:
Clear Recon Corp.
March 3, 2023
Page 2
Among those judicial inquiries my clients want to litigate are those related to
the sale’s compliance with the statutory predicates set forth in RCW 61.24.030.
Accordingly, without waiving any other legal or equitable obligations that you (or
those who are paying for you to perform these trustee/adjudicative services) may have
in this matter, my clients respectfully request that this contractual forum (i.e., the
purported trustee claimed to be the successor trustee) demonstrate by a
preponderance of the evidence:
RCW 61.24.030(7)
My clients dispute that the “beneficiary declaration” which you have relied on
is sufficient proof under the circumstances related to this sale. This is because at the
time the applicable promissory note was executed, the common business practice
among those entities originally obtaining such signed original instruments was to
destroy them in favor of keeping only an electronic copy. See e.g., Statement by
Florida Bankers Association submitted to the Florida Supreme Court1, which
explains that in the years leading up to the Great Recession, the common practice
was to destroy signed original instruments, like the one claimed by you to be in the
possession of the beneficiary.
The reason “many firms file lost note counts as a standard alternative
pleading in the complaint” is because the physical document was
deliberately eliminated to avoid confusion immediately upon its
conversion to an electronic file. See State Street Bank and Trust Company
v. Lord, 851 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). Electronic storage is almost
universally acknowledged as safer, more efficient and less expensive
than maintaining the originals in hard copy, which bears the
concomitant costs of physical indexing, archiving and maintaining
security. It is a standard in the industry and becoming the benchmark of
modern efficiency across the spectrum of commerce—including the court
system.
Exhibit 2, p.4.
1
Hereafter referred to as Exhibit 2 and accessible at the following Government website:
https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/content/download/328731/file/09-1460_093009_Comments%20
(FBA).pdf
Clear Recon Corp.
March 3, 2023
Page 4
Your clients have not proved that there has been a default.
In an effort to get the sale canceled or postponed, Property Owners are willing
to negotiate with you and your clients the amount of a periodic payment they will pay
until they have an opportunity to litigate whether the payment of any amount is
appropriate under the circumstances existing here, which include the failure of the
purported beneficiary to prove the existence of the loan and possession of the signed
Note.
Clear Recon Corp.
March 3, 2023
Page 5
Please get back to me as soon as you can so we can get the sale put off. If my
clients are forced to seek court intervention to stop the sale, they will seek their costs
in having to do so.
s/ Scott E. Stafne .
Scott E. Stafne
WSBA #6964
Enclosure
SS/jp
Exhibit 1
MISSION STATEMENT
4) to minister to and protect those in need such as the hungry, the sick, the poor, the
homeless, the indebted, the enslaved, the vulnerable, and all others who are unfairly
prevented from exercising their inalienable God-given natural rights;
5) to harvest and distribute natural and organic foods and treatments for the
benefit of all;
7) to affiliate with other churches and faith based organizations to promote truth;
8) to train, develop, and support leaders in our communities, nations, and world as
called for in our beliefs;
11) to engage in activities necessary for the accomplishment of the mission; and
12) to oppose all, which by design or through corruption, are inimical to the church’s
mission;
As a part of its mission the Church of the Gardens, through its members, will engage in free
speech, free assembly, and free exercise of religion to promote religious, spiritual, social, and
political strategies through worship and education of people, governments, and institutions.
Exhibit 2
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA
The Florida Bankers Association thanks this Honorable Court for the
Introduction:
association. Its membership is composed of more than 300 banks and financial
institutions ranging in size from small community banks and thrifts, to medium
sized banks operating in several parts of the state, to large regional financial
institutions headquartered in Florida or outside the state. The FBA serves its
resource to all branches and levels of government in addressing those issues which
{O1456895;1}
SUMMARY OF THE COMMENTS
rule does not effectuate its stated goal of deterring plaintiffs that are not entitled to
enforce the underlying obligation from bringing foreclosure actions. Existing and
standards when the original note is not available, and requires the court to protect
the mortgagor against additional foreclosure actions. In addition, the courts have
claims. This authority is explicit in Florida law and implicit in the courts' inherent
power to sanction bad faith litigation. Finally, the proposed amendment imposes a
powers.
COMMENTS
The rationale for the proposed amendment is set forth in the proposal for
promulgation:
{O1456895;1} 2
This rule change is recommended because of the new economic
reality dealing with mortgage foreclosure cases in an era of
securitization. Frequently, the note has been transferred on multiple
occasions prior to the default and filing of the foreclosure. Plaintiff's
status as owner and holder of the note at the time of filing has become a
significant issue in these case, particularly because many firms file lost
note counts as a standard alternative pleading in the complaint. There
have been situations where two different plaintiffs have filed suit on the
same note at the same time. Requiring the plaintiff to verify its
ownership of the note at the time of filing provides incentive to review
and ensures that the filing is accurate, ensures that investigation has been
made and that the plaintiff is the owner and holder of the note. This
requirement will reduce confusion and give the trial judges the authority
to sanction those who file without assuring themselves of their authority
to do so.
With respect and appreciation for the efforts of the Task Force and its
laudable goals, the proposed amendment will not effectuate the reduction of
In actual practice, confusion over who owns and holds the note stems less
from the fact that the note may have been transferred multiple times than it does
from the form in which the note is transferred. It is a reality of commerce that
virtually all paper documents related to a note and mortgage are converted to
electronic files almost immediately after the loan is closed. Individual loans, as
electronic data, are compiled into portfolios which are transferred to the secondary
{O1456895;1} 3
The reason "many firms file lost note counts as a standard alternative
file. See State Street Bank and Trust Company v. Lord, 851 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 4th
efficient and less expensive than maintaining the originals in hard copy, which
mortgage foreclosure action will be drawn from the same database that includes
the electronic document and the record of the event of default. The verification,
made "to the best of [the signing record custodian's] knowledge and belief" will not
imposes a strict burden of proof and instructs the court to protect the obligor from
multiple suits on the same instrument. Section 673.3091, Florida Statutes, sets
forth the elements a plaintiff must prove in order to enforce an obligation for which
{O1456895;1} 4
A person not in possession of an instrument is entitled to enforce the
instrument if:
b) The loss of possession was not the result of a transfer by the person or
a lawful seizure; and
Once the plaintiff has plead and proved the foregoing, there is an additional
judicial requirement:
The court may not enter judgment in favor of the person seeking
enforcement unless it finds that the person required to pay the
instrument is adequately protected against loss that might occur by
reason of a claim by another person to enforce the instrument.
Adequate protection may be provided by any reasonable means.
any means satisfactory to the court. It commonly takes the form of a provision in
the final judgment stating that to the extent any obligation of the note is later
deemed not to have been extinguished by merger into the final judgment, the
plaintiff has by law accepted assignment of those obligations. In other words, the
1
The legislature amended Section 673.3091, Florida Statutes, in 2004 to address
the issues raised by the State Street court in recognition of the commercial reality
that almost all purchase money notes are electronically stored and assigned in
electronic form.
{O1456895;1} 5
plaintiff who enforces a lost or destroyed instrument assumes the risk that a third
party in lawful possession of the original note or with a superior interest therein
based on investigation reasonable under the circumstances--in the facts giving rise
to the asserted claim may be sanctioned "upon the court's initiative." § 57.105(1),
Fla. Stat. This statute, though somewhat underused by our courts, affords judges
Smallwood, 826 So. 2d 221, 223 (Fla. 2002), citing United States Savings Bank v.
Pittman, 80 Fla. 423, 86 So. 567, 572 (1920) (sanctioning attorney for acting in
2
The potential for sanctions is in addition to the significant economic deterrence
to bringing unauthorized foreclosure actions. Presuit costs such as title searches
and identification of tenants and/or subordinate lienors, the escalating filing fees
and costs of service (particularly publication service and the concomitant cost of
diligent search if the mortgagor no longer resides in the collateral) significantly
raise the cost of filing a suit in error.
{O1456895;1} 6
II. REQUIRING VERIFICATION OF RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE
FORECLOSURE COMPLAINTS IMPLEMENTS PUBLIC POLICY
WITHIN THE LEGISLATURE'S CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.
The Task Force Report giving rise to the proposed amendment clearly
courts. The stated purpose—to prevent the filing of multiple suits on the same
note—is clearly a matter of public policy rather than one of court procedure.
condition precedent to access to courts that exceeds the procedural scope of the
action, that requirement is imposed by the legislature. See, e.g., § 702.10, Fla. Stat.
threshold for access to courts, the legislature must exercise its policy-making
authority.
The only other rule of civil procedure which imposes the duty to verify a
petition is a petition for temporary injunction. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.610. The rationale
for requiring verification there is clear: The petition itself and any supporting
The court's decision is made solely on the evidentiary quality of the documents
{O1456895;1} 7
before it. That is not the case here. Verification of the foreclosure complaint will
not relieve the plaintiff seeking to foreclose a residential mortgage of the burden of
proving by competent and substantial evidence that it is the holder of the note
Verification adds little protection for the mortgagor and, realistically, will
not significantly diminish the burden on the courts. The amendment is not needed
or helpful.
CONCLUSION
The Florida Bankers Association recognized the hard work and the laudable
Cases. However, it appears that in the urge to find new ways to address the crisis
facing mortgagors and mortgagees as well as the court system, the Task Force
fashioned a new and ineffectual rule while ignoring the panoply of significant and
Association respectfully requests that this Honorable Court decline to adopt the
{O1456895;1} 8
Respectfully submitted,
___________________________
Alejandro M. Sanchez Virginia B. Townes, Esquire
President and CEO Florida Bar No.: 361879
Florida Bankers Association AKERMAN, SENTERFITT
1001 Thomasville Road, Suite 201 420 South Orange Avenue
Suite 201 Suite 1200 (32801)
Tallahassee, FL 32303 Post Office Box 231
Phone: (850) 224-2265 Orlando, FL 32802
Fax: (850) 224-2423 Phone: (407) 423-4000
[email protected] Fax: (407) 843-6610
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
comments have been served on The Honorable Jennifer D. Bailey, Task Force
Chair, 73 W. Flagler Street, Suite 1307, Miami, Florida 33130-4764, this 28th day
of September, 2009.
___________________________
Virginia Townes, Esquire
Florida Bar No. 361879
{O1456895;1} 9
Exhibit 3
Jamie Heron - Preliminary Review
1. I previously worked as a wholesale mortgage broker approved with many of the largest banks. I
am familiar with their internal original document collateral tracking systems, including the
related Countrywide and Bank of America en��es in this I have reviewed tens of thousands of
foreclosure filings throughout the country.
2. The loan at some point was serviced and/or owned by Countrywide, which was later purchased
by Bank of America (BOA). The foreclosure trustee was Recontrust, an en�ty owned by
Countrywide/BOA.
3. At the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008, evidence began to expose that Countrywide
destroyed or never obtained, the original promissory notes for many of the loans it originated or
purchased and placed into securi�zed trusts.
4. Trust insurers and investors in those trusts began countless lawsuits alleging that this made the
loans defec�ve and caused them losses through the inability to foreclose and/or the delay and
increase costs required to prove ownership of the loans in order to foreclose.
5. Other investors lawsuits alleged that the loans were never part of the trusts at all. They alleged
that a cri�cal element to crea�ng the trusts was the inclusion of the proper�es into the trusts
through ownership endorsements. The trust agreements had specific rules that required the
endorsements placed on the notes and the notes taken into custody and tracked.
6. The billions in lawsuits (s�ll ongoing today) brought by insurers and investors, further exposed
that not only were the original notes never obtained, destroyed or defec�vely endorsed, but
that Bank of America implemented a scheme to cover it up.
7. Bank of America, Countrywide and Recontrust employees eventually were deposed as the result
of compiling li�ga�on brought by homeowners working pro-se and foreclosure defense
atorneys. The employees tes�fied that a�er Bank of America became aware of the defec�ve
documents, it implemented a scheme to illegally endorse up to 20,000 notes a day through the
use of rooms filled with employees using rubber stamps.
8. The scheme was illegal because the stamps were applied using the names of the defunct
Countrywide and former Countrywide employees. This was a form of illegal back-da�ng. It was
to make it appear as if the notes were endorsed years earlier by those par�es, and therefore
legally placed in the trusts.
9. Recontrust employee tes�mony conflicted with former Countrywide and Bank of America
employees, as to how and when the endorsements were placed on the notes.
10. Homeowner foreclosure li�ga�on further exposed that most of the “notes” that were illegally
endorsed, were likely not original notes at all. They were printed copies of notes, made to
appear as if they were the wet-ink originals signed by the homeowners.
11. The evidence of this that I witnessed in countless cases na�onwide is that endorsements were
not present on earlier filed promissory notes, but appeared later in thousands of newly filed
foreclosures. In many cases the notes were irreconcilable, proving by visual inspec�on alone
that at least one of the notes was a forgery.
12. BOA internal tracking logs filed in li�ga�on, further showed that “original” notes were sent to
third-party companies such as “SourceCorp” right before foreclosure li�ga�on, but then were
returned by the company with newly placed endorsements and barcode s�ckers.
13. The 7712 Silver Lake Road promissory note copies evidence these same atributes. It is a forgery.
14. A 7712 Silver Lake note copy filed in a “Claims Reg” in 2013 does not show the
Countrywide/BOA barcode tracking s�cker used to track original loan documents which should
be evident at the botom of the first page. It shows an ownership endorsement from Impac to
“blank” on a separate page.
• Select Por�olio Services later produced a copy they claimed was a “True and Correct” copy of
the note in 2021. The copy appeared with a barcode s�cker not previously seen on the earlier
copy filed in 2013.
• This copy also does not include the addi�onal page showing the endorsement to “Blank” seen
on the 2013 copy provided as the original.
• As a former Countrywide approved wholesale broker, I am familiar with their internal processes.
At the �me Countrywide was involved with the loan in 2009, it would have applied the barcode
tracking s�cker as soon as it originated or purchased the loan, if it had the original promissory
note. It did not have the original 7712 Silver Lake note.
• This note was part of the Bank of America illegal recrea�on of promissory notes scheme. The
barcode s�cker appears later, as is the case in thousands of other foreclosure note filings I have
seen, only a�er Bank of America’s admited implementa�on of the illegal promissory note re-
crea�on scheme.
• In two separately filed earlier copies of the note that do evidence the endorsement, the
endorsements that are supposed to be mirror images of each other, are not. They are
posi�oned differently on the page. One is level, the other is not. This evidences that at least one
was a forgery, but likely both.
• The original note had an “Interest-Only Addendum”. That addendum was a permanent part of
the note found on the note signed at closing. It states it “is incorporated into and intended to
form a part of the “Adjustable Rate Note”. This addendum is not part of the copy provided by
Select Por�olio Servicing purported as the “True and Correct” copy.
• A modifica�on of the promissory note was executed. Any modifica�on to a promissory note
requires the original executed modifica�on documents to be atached to the original wet-ink
signed promissory note it is modifying. The modifica�on documents do not appear on the later
copies of the promissory notes provided.
• The addendum and modifica�on original documents would always travel with the original wet-
ink note because they became part of the original note when executed. None of the copies
provided by SPS show them.
• The original promissory note is required to modify the note and for other loss mi�ga�on
op�ons. The en�re course of dealing for years, was changed to the detriment of the Whites,
when these en��es offered loan modifica�ons that required the original note, knowing they did
not have it. A printer paper dummy-note forgery cannot be legally modified.
• The barcode s�cker is part of a robust tracking system used by Countrywide and later Bank of
America. The barcode placed on the document SPS is falsely represen�ng as a true and correct
copy of the original 7712 Silver Lake promissory note, would have corresponding informa�on in
the Bank of America system. Countless combina�ons of Bank of America system screens exist
that would show the travels of the promissory note, when it was endorsed, who it was endorsed
by, what foreclosure firm possessed it, why, and when requests rela�ng to the original note
were made by servicing, document custodian, or third-party foreclosure atorneys.
• These records are easily obtainable by SPS or BOA and provided in discovery in BOA related
cases na�onwide, as part of their legacy document tracking system. They should be obtained in
discovery in this case.
Jamie Heron
__________________